Being a successful home buyer doesn’t just mean that you bought a house. It means you navigated the market well and that you got what you wanted at a great price. A first time home buyer has a lot to learn so we wanted to provide these home buyer tips.
The market is always changing so consider this part of your guide to first time home buying 101. This guidebook will guide you toward a successful transaction and leave you confident in your abilities. It includes home buying tips and tricks so you can understand the lingo and know what you want out of a deal. Without further ado, here are 5 things successful home buyers do!
A successful home buyer always get a financial loan pre approval. This is something a first time home buyer doesn’t always think of. But getting loan pre approval means you’re serious. You wouldn’t go shopping for groceries without any means of paying, would you? So, it doesn’t matter what kind of market it is; you always get that loan pre approval. A loan preapproval letter means that a lender has reviewed the last two years of your tax returns. They look at your most recent pay stubs and two months of your bank statements.
A lot of novice lookie loos will say they’ve been pre-approved because they got a letter in the mail. They really just got a solicitation! An actual pre-approval will ask you for a lot of information so they can verify your financials. A great first time home buyer tip is to ask your real estate agent about a trusted lender. Don’t fall for gimmicks.
“No such thing as a good lender that pre-approves in 15 minutes…”
The second thing that a successful home buyer does is they know what they want. This is one of the first time home buyer tips you don’t usually hear! There are a lot of agents out there that will try and talk you in to something you don’t want. This is usually under the guise of them knowing more than you. It’s them wanting a commission and you being willing to budge. Home buying tips and tricks never seem to mention this. Know what you want. Do not compromise on things that are truly important to you. Buying a home is a huge investment. Probably the biggest investment of your life! If you want a two story home… Get a two story home. If you want a space for a library – get a home that you can work that in to.
This isn’t about overspending or getting your dream home. This is more about not letting someone talk you out of some feasible that you really really want.
A great real estate agent makes a great deal of sense
Get a great real estate agent right up front. Talking to someone recently, they told me a story. They found a real estate agent online with amazing reviews so they called and left a message. After a day with no response they called again and left another message with a secretary. After another few wasted days, still no response so they looked for another option.
They ended up finding and getting in touch with someone else who was perfect. Everything about this new agent, down to the wall color in their office was perfect. And when that first guy ended up calling back… He was actually upset that they didn’t wait for his call and ended up going with someone else. Now, obviously they would have eventually found out his true nature but what if they made an excuse for it? “Well, he’s rated five star – he must be great even though I don’t like his personality.” If you walk away with one of the home buying tips and tricks in your head; make it this one.
The fourth thing successful home buyers do is they always make a good offer. Now, making a good offer depends on what kind of market that you’re in. Is it a seller’s market, buyer’s market or a stabilized market? You need to know what the trends are. Don’t think about lowballing them and see if they take it, even in a buyers market. They don’t have to sell to you and you may just make them upset.
Always ask your trusted real estate advisor to run what’s called a comparative market analysis on a property. Doing this we can come up with a very good indication of where that property is correctly priced. In doing so, then you’ll know how to make the right offer. If the house is listed high and you make a lower offer, more in line with the actual value… No problem, that’s fine. What you want to avoid is offering a lot less than what it’s worth, and for no reason.
Final tip
So now our final successful home buyer tip for 2020 is committing to your dates. From your home inspection to appraisal, get committed. Home buying is like a short term job. You have to make the effort to be there if you want it to work out. You’re working on a lot of other people’s schedules during this time. The owners, contractors, agents, and everyone in between! Coordinating all those people isn’t easy so do your part to keep your dates solid. And this is the great thing – they’re going to do the same for you! Buying or selling a home is really a group effort. Let go of the stress and just have a good time!
Tips for buying a luxury home >>
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